Shipping companies are already planning to exploit the first simultaneous opening of the routes since the beginning of the last Ice Age 125,000 years ago. The Beluga Group in Germany said it will send the first ship through the Northeast Passage, around Russia, next year – cutting 4000 miles off the voyage from Germany to Japan.

Glass half-empty?

Prof Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in the US, said the images suggested the Arctic may have entered a “death spiral”. He warned that official bodies would be reluctant to confirm the passages were open, however, for fear of lawsuits if ships hit ice.

Overall, Arctic sea ice extent is at its second-lowest level in recorded history.